Film processing tank unit



Jan. 5, 1960 J. w. CARR FILM PROCESSING TANK UNIT 3 Sheet 1 Filed Aug,18 8 E w. N we m M W WY Jan. 5, 1960 J. w. CARR FILM PROCESSING TANKUNIT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 18, 1958 M NDNW J. W. CARR FILMPROCESSING TANK UNIT 'Illllllllll VII/III Filed Aug. 18, 1958 FIG. 6.

, I INVENTOR.

JOA/N 4a 0099 3 BYW/ United States Patent 2,919,637 FILM PROCESSING TANKUNIT John W. Carr, Pacific Palisades, Calif. Application August 18,1953, Serial No. 755,679 11 Claims. (Cl. 951-89) This invention relatesto film processing tanks and particularly to an X-ray processing tankadapted to be operated between two rooms and commonly known as athroughwall processing tank. 'X-ray' films come in various sizes and aregenerally processed as soon as exposed. "The present processing tankaccommodates films of various sizes, provides for the illumination ofthe films for observation and inspection, and provides a light-tighthypo or wash tank which permits a film to be placed in the tank in adark room and removed from. the tank in a lighted room, the dark roombeing protected from light at all times. This -throughwall operationpermits the rapid processing of the film by having only the techniciansin the dark room, the doctors being in the lighted room where they mayquickly remove the film from the hypo tank for observation even beforewashing, where speed is essential to a diagnosis of many ailments. Wheremany films are being processed, the separation of the technicians anddoctors in different rooms expedites the processing and provides higherquality films.

To provide the lightproof safety feature, the doors or lids of the hypoor wash tank are rubber-gasket sealed and only one door in one room canbe opened at a time. This is accomplished by a sliding latch which whenin a position to permit the opening of one door, locks the other door sothat the dark room cannot be lighted through the hypo or wash tank.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to facilitate theprocessing or developing of X-ray films. Y

Another object of the invention is to provide a dciveloping unit whichmay extend between a dark room and a lighted room to expedite theprocessing of films.

A further object of the invention is .to provide an improved X-rayprocessing tank unit which provides observation means and a safetylightproof hypo or wash tank portion accessible frorntwo separate rooms.at mutually exclusive times.

A better understanding of this invention may be had from the followingdetailed description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view ,of a processing tank unit embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, partially exploded, of the safety latchused in the invention.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational ,view of the proc ssing tank unit of Fig. 1and shown partially in cross-section.

Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the lightproof doors ofthe hypo or wash tank portion of the invention.

Fig. -5 is a cross-sectional detail view of the lightproofingconstruction of the doors of the hypo or wash tank section.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the holding latch for the hypo showing theground glass mounting for the drip-free viewing screens.

Referring, now, to the drawings in which the same reference numeralsindicate the same elements, the unit is of a generally rectangularconfiguration with a hack-splash wall 4, the outside walls andpartitions being composed of plywood 5 on which is attached sheet metal6. Several serially-arranged tanks or compartments are provided in theunit. As mentioned above, the tank unit extends between two rooms, theroom partition being in contact with the center tank partition 8 onwhich are mounted door latches 9 and 10. The unit may have removablefront and end panels to provide access to the interior elements, such asthe plumbing, not shown.

The left hand side of the tank, as shown in Fig. 3, is in a dark roomand has hanger rails for developing and shortstop tanks if used, one ofwhich 'is shown at '11 in Fig. l. Another rail is shown at 12. The largecompartment of the tank in the left contains temperature-controlledwater 13 and in which are tanks 14 and 15 mounted on the hanger railsand containing films 17 and 18 mounted on the standard type ofsupporting rods20 and 21. A developing solution is contained in tank 14and a shortstop solution is contained in tank 15. A

central tank compartment 23 contains the hypo solution which in someinstances may be wash water, the hypo tank being in water 13, while thetank portion 24 contains the usual Washing water. Although a shortstoptank 15 is shown, some processors do not use it but simply wash the filmin water 13. i

As mentioned above, light is excluded from the room containing theleft-hand portion of tank 23 by a pair of lightproof doors or lids 26and 27 having respective brackets 28 and 29 mounted thereon. On a tophorizontal section 31 of the central tank is a plate 32, side guides 33and 34, and a plate 35, all of which may be' fastened to the platform 31by screws such as shown at 36.

Mounted between the plates 32 and 35 and between the guides 33 and 34 isa bar 38 slidable between rooms and having handles 39 and 40 at the endsthereof, these handles being threaded into the ends of bar 38 and havinghand-protective flanges 41 and 42, respectively, thereon. The bar 38 isslightly undercut at 43 to form rails on which the bar can slide withoutbinding. The lower portion of the handles are adapted to fit in endnotches, such as shown at 44, in the plate 35. Thus, when the bar 38 isin .the position shown in Fig. 3, door 26 cannot be opened but door 27may beopened. When the bar is in the position shown in Fig. 4, door 27cannot be opened but door 26 can be opened and latched as shown by thedotted'lines 46 in Fig. 4. Latching is accomplished by the use of doorhandles 67 and 68 which fit into notches in .the latches 9 and 10, thelatches pivoting on pins 69 and 7.0. (See Fig. 6.) The door handlesare-fastened to .the doors by screws or bolts so they may be removedduring transportation of the .unit.

As shown in Fig. 5, the doors have an outer skin withdepending flanges'96 and 97 and underplates 9 8 and 99 to which are attached v by anysuitable means such as welding, Z-shaped members 51 .and 51. To th i neflanges of me b rs 5: rn 5 is a slat 5. attached by screws 86, the plate56 the surfaces of time 2 Whe 8 nd 9.15 z-sh be brs' ,5 1]anjg1. 51'being coated with neqnrene .rubberfIOO to protect the inner .suriaces ofthe doors frorri'hyptx fumes, Reinforcing ribs for the dqo r s shown -atan a 10 To exclude light from the ,tank 23, rubber gaskets 49 and 53extend around the lower and side edges oflea'ch of ,ljespective doors.27an d 26, these ruhber gaskets having a. hollow circular section and aflat base section,

shown at 50 in Fig. 7, and which are held in position by plates 98 and99 and Z-shaped members 51 and 51'. When the doors are in closedposition, the circular portion of each gasket is compressed into an ovalshape as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, while its normal configuration is asshown in Fig. 7. This insures a good light seal.

The door 26 is hinged with a piano-type hinge 54 and door 27 is hingedwith a similar type hinge 55. To provide a lightproof connection at theupper edges of the doors when the doors 26 and 27 are closed, the outerlining 95 of each door (see Fig. is bent into L-shaped brackets 57 and58 which are adapted to be inserted in lower U-shaped sections 60 and 61depending from the section 31. To increase the lightproofing, the uppersheet of door 26 has a depending flange 65, while the upper sheet ofdoor 27 has a depending flange 66.

Two illuminating or viewing units 71 and 72 are in each section of theback wall of the tank, these units consisting of film-holding brackets74 and 75, light sources 76 and 77, and three-sided frame units 78 and79 to make them drip-free. As shown in Fig. 8, opal glass or opalplastic plates 8%) and 81 are held in position by the U-shaped frameunits 78 and 79 which have one long leg 82 and a short leg 83 fastenedby a screw 84 threaded into the back wall. (See Fig. 8.) The opal glassplates 80 and 81 are fiush with the back wall, and since there are nolower sections of the frames, hypo or water from the wet film may drainback into the tank. Although one illuminator is shown in the dark roomand one in the light room, it is to be understod that more than one maybe in the lighted room and none in the dark room.

A safe light may be positioned at 89 in the end wall of the tank, whilethe desired switches may be mounted at 91 and 92 and a thermometer at94.

To operate the tank, film is placed in the developer in tank 14 for thenecessary period and then into a shortstop bath in tank 15, or in water13 as a rinse water, the water being held at the desired temperature tomaintain the developer and shortstop bath at the required temperature.The plumbing to accomplish this may be placed behind the back wall or inthe front of the tank unit behind the removable panels.

The door 26 of the hypo tank 23 is now opened, which means that bar 38is to the right, locking door 27, and the film placed therein. After therequired period of time, the door 27 is opened, which means that bar 38is to the left, locking door 26 so that no light can enter the darkroom. The film is then taken out of the hypo or wash tank, observed atthe illuminator 72, and placed in the wash section 24.

If the inspection of the film from the hypo tank is desired in the darkroom, it can be done at illuminator 71. Thus, many films may be rapidlyprocessed through the entire tank at different stages by having asection of the hypo tank in one room and another section in an adjoiningroom with safety light-excluding doors. The construction of the doorsfacilitates their opening and closing, the locking feature preventingerrors in not having one door closed before the other is opened.

I claim:

1. A developing tank unit for sheet film adapted to have a portionthereof in one room and another portion thereof in an adjoining roomseparated by a wall comprising a unit having a plurality of seriallyarranged compartments adapted to contain liquids, a centrally disposedcompartment in said unit having a portion in one of said rooms and aportion in said adjoining room, and a door in each room to provideaccess to said central compartment, said doors being at an angle ofapproximately 45 degrees to the horizontal and hinged along their topedges, a bracket being provided on each door and a locking bar beingmounted on said compartment and having an end thereof extendable intoeach of said roomsjat mutually exclusive times, each end moving over andcom tacting a respective bracket, said bar in one position therebylocking one door and permitting the opening of the other door, anotherposition of said bar locking said other door and permitting the openingof said firstmentioned door.

2. A developing tank unit in accordance with claim 1 in which means areprovided on said wall for holding said doors in open position above saidcompartment.

3. A developing tank unit in accordance with claim 1 in which aresilient gasket is positioned around the bottom and two side edges ofeach door to seal said doors and exclude light from said centralcompartment when said doors are closed, the weight of said doorscompressing said gasket to tighten said seal.

4. A developing tank-unit in accordance with claim 3 in which aninterleaved light trap is provided at the upper edge of each door wheresaid doors are hinged to exclude light from said central compartment.

5. A film processing tank unit having a plurality of serially arrangedcompartments, one of which has a. portion in a dark room and anotherportion in an adjoining lighted room, said room being separated by awall, comprising a developing compartment in said dark room and a hypocompartment extending into both rooms, a door in each room providingaccess to said hypo compartment, and locking means for said doors topermit the opening of only one of said doors at mutually exclusivetimes, said doors being positioned at approximately 45 degrees to thehorizontal, hinged along their top edges, provided with a gasket alongtheir bottom and side edges, and provided with a light trap seal alongthe top edges thereof.

6. A film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 5 in which saidunit has a back wall, at least-one illuminator unit for films beingpositioned in said wall.

7. A film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 6 in which eachof said illuminating units has only upper and side panels and a viewingplate positioned flush with said back wall.

8. A sheet film processing tank unit comprising serially positionedtanks containing fluids for processing films by moving said films fromone tank to another, certain of said tanks being in one room and certainother of said tanks being in an adjacent room, said rooms beingseparated by a wall, one of said tanks being partially in one of saidrooms on one side of said wall and partially in said other room on theother side of said wall, a first door providing access to said one tankfrom one of said rooms, a second door providing access to said one tankfrom the other of said rooms, said doors being hinged along their upperedges, means for preventing the opening of both of said doors at any onetime, and means attached to said wall for holding said doors in openposition.

9. A sheet film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 8 in whichsaid first-mentioned means includes a bracket on each of said doors anda bar slidable between said brackets and adapted to contact each of saidbrackets at mutually exclusive times.

10. A sheet film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 8 inwhich said doors include resilient gaskets along the sides and bothedges thereof and an interleaved light trap at the upper edges thereofto lightproof said one tank when said doors are closed.

11. A sheet film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 10 inwhich said tank unit includes a back wall and film illuminators mountedtherein, said illuminators having upper and side panels and lightdiffusing plates flush with said wall and held in position by saidpanels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,500,345 Spurrier July 8, 1924 2,222,495 Battis Nov. 10, 1940 2,764,920Harper Oct. 2, 1956

